Continued power outages, heat lead to health problems, deaths

Thousands still without power week after storm

Thousands of people in the Baltimore area are still without electricity a week after a severe derecho storm and strong winds knocked out power to more than 700,000 utility customers, and the relentless heat wave on top of that has led to as many as nine heat-related deaths in Maryland.

The outages Saturday have gone up and down, but mostly stayed below 9,000. By 10 p.m., more than 5,400 Baltimore Gas and Electric customers remained without power, mostly situated in the Odenton/Laurel areas of Anne Arundel County and inside the Beltway in Baltimore County and the city. Saturday's number was down from more than 20,000 Friday.

The storm knocked down power lines across the state, damaged buildings and killed at least two people.

On top of that, the soaring temperatures are proving to be too much to bear for many, including some senior citizens who have been stuck without power. As many as nine people in Maryland have died as a result in the hot weather.

An Excessive Heat Warning was issued for all day Saturday as heat indices reached 110 degrees in Baltimore and high temperatures climbed to about 102 degrees by 6 p.m. The day's record is 100 degrees set in 2010. Humidity and heat indices ranged from 100 to 110 degrees by 6 p.m. throughout Maryland.

The impact and high risk of heat exhaustion or other heat-related illness for those without air-conditioning or those spending time outdoors for an extended period could prove dangerous for some.

With the hot weather usually comes poor air quality, which is the main reason people become sick in the heat. The Maryland Department of the Environment issued a code orange day for Friday and Saturday, meaning the young and elderly are at risk.

"The codes -- the orange, the red -- they're based on the amounts of ozone in the atmosphere. They're recorded and forecasted, and they're recorded afterward, and these are based on (Environmental Protection Agency standards," MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said.

Sinai Hospital emergency room Dr. Matthew Smith told 11 News on Friday that he has seen an increasing number of people who work outside making their way into the ER.

"They feel dehydrated, weak, tired. You get them out of that environment, get them fluids and rest, and they feel a lot better real quickly," Smith said.

11 News found several seniors Thursday who don't have any option but to stay at home and sweat it out, and they said it's taking a toll on their health.

Paramedics evaluated Carlton Davis, a senior citizen sweltering through the heat wave in a stifling apartment.

Davis said he's suffered back-to-back heat strokes since the storm knocked out the power in his southwest Baltimore apartment.

"It has been miserable, that's true. I've been falling up the steps and stumbling over things," he said.

Davis and his wife said they cleaned out their fridge and stocked up on flashlights, but they said they sleep with the windows closed for safety reasons, and that's driving up the temperature even more.

"It's so hot in there, we can't breathe. We just try to cope with it. We bought a little portable fan, but it's tiny. My grandson, he got sick and we had to run him to the emergency room last night because he's an asthmatic," Priscilla Davis said.

On Thursday, city workers passed out ice and bottled water to families still stuck without power. On Friday, the city established an outreach command center in north Baltimore to serve communities without power. The center will be located at the Northern Community Action Center at 5225 York Road.

"It's devastating for a person who may have a respiratory problem or any kind of illness, so we're trying to prevent that from happening any longer," said Reggie Scriber of the Baltimore Housing Authority.

City workers have been circulating through affected neighborhoods, handing out provisions since the day after the storm hit, especially targeting vulnerable populations.

While the Davis family said they appreciate the provisions -- including food called MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat -- they said they believe Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake waited too long to send help to their neighborhood.

"To be in a building with no lights and no air is unfair, and I know her block has lights and everything else," Carlton Davis said.

"I called all the way to (President Barack) Obama's office. It don't make any sense why we have to live like this," Priscilla Davis said.

A representative for the city Health Department emphasized that the heat is a silent killer. He said people with underlying chronic conditions like heart trouble or asthma often get sick several days after intense heat exposure.

The Health Department is cautioning people to be extra vigilant even after the temperatures drop or your air conditioning returns.

Using monitors all over the state, MDE determined that there's enough pollution in the air that it's literally cooking in the atmosphere. WBAL-TV 11 News has learned that 70 percent of all of the state's air pollution comes from other states, and that smoke from the Colorado wildfires are playing a role as well.

"Maryland is not alone in these extreme conditions. Chicago and other areas of the Midwest are issuing these type of advisories and that pollution is coming into Maryland, and we're also being affected by the wildfires out in Colorado," Apperson said.

The MDE is also reminding residents that they help to reduce air pollution during these very hot days by limiting driving, refueling your car at night, putting of lawn care until conditions improve and using gas or electric grills instead of charcoal.

Meanwhile, BGE officials said they've fielded more than 1 million calls at their customer contact center since last Friday's storm, and they're doing all they can to get the remaining homes back up and running as fast as possible.